Apparatus for repairing moving-picture films



M. S. ROSENFELD.

APPARATUS FOR REPAIRING MOVING PICTURE FILMS. APPLICATIION FILED MAY 24, 1915. RENEWED SEPT. 15. I918- 1,328,056.

fatented Jan.13,l920.

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APPARATUS FOR REPAIRING MOVING PICTURE FILMS. APPLICATION man my 24, 1915. RENEWED SEPT. 18. me.

Patented Jan. 13, 1920.

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wit mm: I I 3 wvewto c M I M. s. ROSENFELD. APPARATUS FOR REPAIRING MOVING PICTURE FILMS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24, I915. RENEWED SEPT. I8. I9I8.

Patented Jan. 13,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- \N WN hf/ 72a 2 7/4 m I I. U 7// Mm% M7//////// V w MN w umu ir'zml imaz/fif W [I W m N I2 4 MM I i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MAURICE S. ROSENFELD, OF NEW YORK, 1\T. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, To JACOB SCHECHTER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR REPAIBI1\TG MOVING-PICTURE FILMS.

Application filed May 24, 1915, Serial no. 30,222.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAURICE S. ROSEN- FELD, acitizen of'the United States, residing in the borough of the Bronx, county of Bronx, city and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Repairing Moving-Picture Films, of which the following is a specification.

My inventlon relates to an apparatus by the use of which moving picture films may be accurately cut, scraped and the ends secured together with neatness and despatch.

During the operation of exhibiting moving pictures, the film often becomes broken by reason of the teeth of the feeding sprockets tearing out the perforations on one side or the other of the film. I When this occurs, the film cannot be properly fed through the machine, and it becomes necessary to cut out the broken part of the film and join the ends after the broken portion has been removed. This is termed patching. The

operator cuts out the broken part, taking great care to have the ends square, and, if the film be of American manufacture, to see that it is so cut as to leave in each end of I the film, the perforation between the sepamachine.

rate pictures.

He then dampens one end on the coated side, and with a knife scrapes the coating therefrom for a short distance. The scraped end is then covered with collodion, and the ends are overlapped and allowed todry. Great care must be taken to see that the perforations at the cut-off ends come in perfect alinement as unless such is the case, the film will not run true in the projecting In European madefilms; the mat line or space between individual pictures, comes between perforations, and the film must be cut accordlngly.

The object of my invention'is toproduce a. device wherein the film may be secured in such a manner that the ends may be cut square, and in such a position that when the cut ends are brought intoengagement, the perforations will be in perfect alinement and in proper register, and the joint may be always made between the PlCtllIBS.

A further object is to produce a device which will remove the coating from one of the severed ends of the film, in order that the cement used for reunitingthe film will be effective.

These and further objects will more fully Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J an, 13, 1920,

Renewed September 18, 1918. Serial No. 254,678.

appear in the following specification and accompanylng drawings considered together or separately.

'In the drawings in which like parts in'all of the several figures are designated by similar reference characters.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the device with i the film retaining flaps raised;

Fig. 2 is a View of a section of film with the ends joined;

- Fig. 3 1s a cross section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section showing the presser foot in position over the bed;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the operative parts of the device, taken onthe line ing the parts with the film lapped and the presser foot in position over the joint; and

F ig. 8 shows, in diagram, the positions of the film in the several steps of the operation. In "the drawings, '1 represents a bed plate which will preferably be secured to a bench or table, and is provided at each end with an upright 2. Each upright carries a pair of bearings 3, 4;, one at each side of the table. In the bearings 3, 3, is rigidly mounteda shaft 5, and in the bearings 4, 4, is a similar shaft 6, and slidably carried on the shaft is a pair of tables 7 and 7, one at each side of the center of the bed plate. Each table is composed of a' pl-ate 8 having an enlargement 9 at each end, the enlargements are bored to ride over the shafts 5 and 6. The enlargement of each table which engages the shaft 6 is c'ounterbored to receive a spring 10, which bears against the bearing 4, and

tends to move its table toward the center line 13, and the other table carries a similar.

plate 14. Each of these plates carries a plurality (preferably four) of spurs 15, spaced apart transversely of the plates the same distance apart as the perforations at the sides of a film, and spaced apart longitudinally of the plate, in such a. manner as to engage the perforations lengthwise the film. The plate 14 has secured to its under side, a nut 16, the table being cutaway to allow for such nut, and this nut is engaged by a screw 17 which is mounted in one of the uprights 2. By rotating the screw the plate 14 may be moved longitudinally of the table. The table 7 carrylng the plate 14 is provided 15 with a scraping edge 18 projecting from 1ts upper surface forward of the plate 14. I

Hinged to the top of the table 7 a is a gate 19 which may be locked down over the plate 13, and held in position by a keeper 20 20. A similar gate 21 co6perates with the table 7, and is secured in position over the plate 14 by means of a similar keeper. Each gate is provided with a spring 22 for holding it 1n open position. The gate 21 is provided with an abutment 23 which cooperates with the scraper 18.

The shaft of the screw 17 is provided with a plurality of spots and a spring pressed pin 24 is adapted to engage with any one of the spots to indicate the position of the plate 14 as it is moved by the screw.

Rotatably mounted onthe shaft 6 at the center of the machine, is a handle 25 which carries a pair ofknives 26, 26. The body 'of the handle carries the knife and is of a width suflicient to pass. between the ends of the tables 7*- and 7 when they are in the normalposition shown in Fig. 1. Pivoted to the handle is a presser foot 27, which is pressed downward by a spring 28. The --1sides of the presser foot lie at the sides of the handle body and rest upon the. film which projects beyond the edges of the gates when they are in the positions shown in Fig. 5.

Projecting from each'side of the hub 29 of the handle is a in 30, and each of the. enlargementsv 9 sli ing on the shaft 6 is provided with a perforation 31. These erforations are in line with the pins 30 w en the handle is in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Rotatably carried on the shaft 5 between the enlargements 9, 9, is a handle 32, which normally hangs in a vertical position, as shown in Fig. 3. The hub of this handle carries projecting from each side thereof a pin 33, and these pins engage the cam faces, 11,11.

Pivoted to the handle 32 is a cushioned holder 34 which is normally held in engagement with the handle by a spring clip 35.

In Fig. 8, 1 have shown diagrammatically the different positions assumed by a film under the actions of my improved device.

The operation is as follows:

Figs. 1 and 5, with the gates 21, 21-raised.

A film having several of its perforations torn away is now placed on the table with its coated side down, and with the tornportion forming a'loop in the space between the tables 7, 7 The film is so placed on the tables that the spurs 15, 15 of the plates 13 and 14 will enga e certain of the perforations in the film. %are must be taken that the spurs on the plate 13 nearest the center line of the machine enter the first pair of perforations back of a mat line, as at f in Fig. 2. The two leading spurs on plate 14 must enter the perforations just back of a mat line, as at g. This is for the purpose of making the patch at a point between two pictures. I

When the film is in proper position, as shown in Fig. 5, and at a in Fig. 8, the gates are brought down and locked over the film by the clips 20. It will be observed that the gates have recesses to receive the spurs, and thus securely hold the film in position. The under side of the loop is now moistened. This will loosen the emulsion coating. The screw 17 is now turned, and

the plate 14 drawn away from the center of the machine. This will drag a portion of the loop over between the abutment 23 and the knife 18, and remove the coating from the portion so dragged. The machine will now be in position shown in Fig. 6, and the film will be in the position shown at b in Fig. 8.

The handle 25 is now'drawn forward and downward and the knives 26, 26, will sever the film at the inner ends of the plates 8, 8, as at c. The presser feet 27' will hold the film firmly in :position during the cutting. The handlewill now be raised and the screw 17 will be turned backward to'the same extent as it was turned forward during the former step in the operation. The machine will now be in the position shown at d, Fig. 8, and in Fig. 6 The operator will pass his finger 'under the projecting end of the film to remove any particles of the scraped loose emulsion, and to bend the end of the film upward slightly, as shown in Fig. 6

That end of the film lying on the. plate 8 in advance of the plate 13 isnow covered with a thin coating of collodion or other suitable cement. The handle 32, and with it the presser 34, is now raised, the pins 33' are released from engagement with the cams 11, 11, and the springs in the enlargements 9, 9 at the back of the machine will move both tables toward the center until they come into contact. This will bring the turned-up end of the film over the collodion coated end opposite. The presser 34 is now released from the spring clip 35, and

brought down on the film joint until the-cement sets.

The film ends are now a continuous strip.

The perforations at the joint are in perfect register, and the film, as a whole, is in perple of my invention together with the ap-.'

paratus, which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is merely illustrative, and that the invention can be carried out in other ways without departing from the spirit of my invention. v

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

1. A device of the character described,

having means for holding a film in position, means for cutting a portion from the film,

a scraper, means for moving the ends of the film relatively to'the scraper for scraping the end of the film, means for moving the ends of the film toward each other to cause the ends of the film to overlap, and means for holding the overlapped portions in contact.

2. A device of the character described, having means for holding a film in position, means for cutting a portion from the film, a scraper, means for moving the ends of the film relatively to the scraper for scraping the end of the film, means for moving the ends of the film toward each other to cause the ends of the film to overlap, with the perforations in the overlapping portions in' register.

3. A device of the character described, having means for holding a film in position, means for cutting a portion from the film, a scraper, means for moving the film relatively to the scraper for scraping the end of the film, means for automatically causing the film ends to approach each other to cause the ends of the film to overlap, and means for holding the overlapped portions in contact, with the perforations in the overlapping portions in register.

4. A device of the character described,

having a table, means on the table for .securing a film thereto, a plurality of knives for simultaneously cutting a portion from the film, a scraper, means formoving a film end relatively to the scraper to remove the photographic coating from the film.

5. A device. of the character described, havin tables, means on the tables for securing a film thereto, means for cutting the film square, a scraper, means for moving a film end relatively to the scraper to remove the photographic coating from the film, and ,means for moving the tables to cause the film ends to overlap and means for securing the ends of the film together.

6. A device of the character described, having a table, means on the table for securing a film thereto, a knife for cutting the film square, means for moving a film endrelatively to the knife to remove the photographic coating from the film. and means for securing the ends of the film together.

7. A device of the character described, having tables, means on the tables for securing a film thereto, a knife for cutting a portion from the film, means for moving a film end relatively to a table to remove the photographic coating from the film, and means for simultaneously moving the tables to cause the film ends to overlap and means for securing the ends of the film together.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination'with a table, means for securing a film to the table, a second table,

means for securing a film thereto, means for moving one of the films relatively to the table to which it is secured, means carried on said table for removing a part of the film, and means for securing the ends of the film together.

9. In a device of the character described, the combination with a pair of tables, a removable plate secured to each'ta ble, spurs on the plates adapted-to engage perforation in a film carried on the tables, a gate on each table, a knife on one table, an abutment on one gate to cooperate with the knife, a nut on one plate, of a screw engaging the nut, a

cam on each table, a member engaging the cams to holdthe tables apart, a spring coacting with each table, and a knife co-acting with the ends of the tables.

This specification signed and witnessed 

